LESSENGER MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS ‘DO THE TESSELLATIONS’

Detroit, MI — If you’ve seen the work of William Escher, then you’ve probably seen a tessellation.
He was a master at it and generally utilized complicated figures rather than smooth sided polygons to achieve his intriguing results.

Simply put, a tessellation is the result of fitting together copies of one shape on a smooth, flat surface,
to produce a design that has no gaps. At Lessenger K-8 Preparatory Academy there are some budding Escher’s who are learning the technique.

Through a volunteer program with members of the Henry Ford Community College (HFCC) Ceramics Club, Lessenger students are working on creating pieces of art and learning about principles of geometry
at the same time. The students made and glazed six-sided tiles (hexagons) with colorful patterns of cool blues and aquas, and warm yellows, oranges and reds. Hexagons just happen to be one of the shapes
that can easily form a tessellation without adding any filler shapes. The tiles will be taken to the college campus, fired and brought back to the school.

On Friday, April 24, from 8:45 a.m. until 10:30 a.m., the Lessenger students will be busily engaged
in creating the finished artwork using the fired tiles. They will arrange them on three separate panels to create the tessellation patterns. Next, guided by the HFCC volunteers they will help
mount and frame the tiles.

But the students aren’t going to keep the panels. Their works of art are gifts for Children’s Hospital of Michigan. On May 20 there will be a special unveiling ceremony at the Hospital where the panels
will be put on permanent display. This final act is yet another great lesson for the students as they
help their community by giving of themselves to create a thing of beauty-an item of pleasure for others
to enjoy.

For information about DPS enrollment, call 313-873-7098 or visit our website at www.detroitk12.org.